SEVERUS, SEPTIMIUS (aka Lucius Septimius Severus, 11 April 145–4 February 211), African emperor of the Roman Empire from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums in Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. He advanced through the customary succession of offices under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus and seized power after the death of the emperor Pertinax in 193. During his rule, he annexed the Kingdom of Osroene as a new province, consolidated Roman rule over the western provinces, waged a successful war in the east against the Parthian Empire to expand the eastern frontier to the Tigris, and enlarged and fortified the Limes Arabicus frontier in Arabia Petraea. He later carried out campaigns in Africa and Mauritania, enlarging the Limes Tripolitanus frontier zone, which secured Africa as the agricultural base of the empire. Severus also traveled to Britain in 208 and strengthened Hadrian’s Wall while reoccupying the Antonine Wall. A year later he invaded Caledonia (modern Scotland) but his ambitions were cut short when he grew fatally ill. In early 211 he died of an infectious disease. He was succeeded by his two sons, who were advised by their mother, Severus’ second wife, Julia Domna, who was born in Emesa, which is present-day Homs, in Roman Syria. Thus the Severan dynasty was born. It would continue until the death of Alexander Severus in 235 and was the last dynasty of the Roman Empire before the Crisis of the Third Century.
Severus’ career often receives mixed historical evaluations. The Euro-centric history of Septimius Severus in particular casts a negative light on the first African-born emperor, focusing on his ruthless and sometimes brutal methods of military domination, as well as his prohibition against conversion to Christianity or Judaism during his reign. Yet more recent scholarship has focused instead on the distinct influence and impact that Severus brought to the government from his African roots, which helped to shape new moral and political innovations within the Roman world. Severus was a great builder, distinguished for his focus on architecture, renovated roads, and public monuments. As Emperor, he was noted for paying his armies fairly, and for stabilizing the government during a period of great uncertainty.